Historic Structure Audit for National Park Service
HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAM TO CONTINUE HISTORIC STRUCTURE AUDIT
FOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Additional $25,000 will extend fieldwork through the end of the year
The National Park Service has awarded the University of Maryland’s Historic Preservation Program a
$25,000 contract extension to conduct historic structures fieldwork within the National Capital area. The
additional funding will allow students and faculty from the Historic Preservation Program to continue
their work in documenting the condition of hundreds of historic buildings and structures throughout the
region.
“We are very excited to be able to continue this work for the National Park Service,” said Dr. Don
Linebaugh, Director of University of Maryland’s Historic Preservation Program. “This is a wonderful
opportunity for our students to apply their coursework to real world issues.”
The fieldwork project began last fall with an initial $80,000 from the National Park Service - National
Capital Region (NPS-NCR), and focuses on updating condition records for the hundreds of historic
buildings and structures that dot both the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park and the
George Washington Memorial Parkway. Led by Christine Henry, Assistant to the Director of the Historic
Preservation program, a group of ten students spent the spring and summer months traversing nearly
25 miles of the GW Parkway and 70 miles of the C & O Canal. Resources ranged from lockhouses and
sculptures to earthworks, drainage systems and culverts.
During the initial contract, students nearly completed the survey of the George Washington Memorial
Parkway, successfully updated conditions of 164 structures including Arlington House and associated
structures and the historic structures on Theodore Roosevelt Island. In addition, the team assessed 431
sites along the C & O Canal, all by foot or bike. Throughout the project, Henry uploaded the students’
photos and notes into the National Park Service database for review. This valuable information not only
serves as a running history of the area’s historic resources, it also clues the National Park Service into
any changes, deterioration or storm damage seen on the ground, allowing them to determine what, if
any action needs to be taken.
“We have a wide range of structures in the national capital region, from national monuments to
over 200 culverts along the C & O Canal,” explains Martha Temkin, Cultural Resource Specialist, NPS-
NCR. “These condition updates not only keep a record of our historic resources, but they allow us to
observe and monitor changes over several years. This is particularly important when considering factors
such as climate change.”
According to Henry, all National Parks are required to perform audits of their historic structures on
a cyclical basis, which, in an area like Washington, DC, is extensive and time-consuming. Tasking
Maryland’s Historic Preservation program with the project is a win-win, providing a meaningful, hands-
on experience to the students while performing an invaluable service to the National Park Service.
“This is an incredible opportunity for our students to learn tangible, hands-on skills,” says
Henry. “Documentation experience, particularly on a Federal project, is really significant for when
students enter the professional field. As a bonus, they get to experience and see parts of Washington
they wouldn’t otherwise see.”
The group has also found an unexpected aspect to their fieldwork: the curiosity of the public. Questions
from “sight see-ers” and joggers have turned many of the students into impromptu docents.
“There is definitely a public history aspect to this project,” explains Henry, “People we encounter out in
the field are generally very interested in what we’re doing and take a lot of pleasure in learning about
these historic resources, some of which they pass every day without even knowing.”
This semester, two graduate assistants will pick up where last year’s team left off, completing the GW
Parkway audit and continuing the documentation of the C& O Canal. As winter approaches, the students
will have better access to areas made inaccessible to last year’s group by the DC region’s early spring,
or “green up.”
“I think the biggest plus for me has been the opportunity to gain some experience in the field
documenting historic structures and landscapes,” says John Gentry, a Preservation Graduate Student
who will continue fieldwork this semester. “The project has also given me the chance to apply some of
the knowledge gained in my class on the conservation of historic structures.”
“Opportunities like the National Park Service project provide the critical hands-on approach to learning
that make our program so exceptional,” says David Cronrath, Dean of Maryland’s School of Architecture,
Planning and Preservation. “Exploring concepts through practice as part of their education allow our
students to enter the professional world more prepared, capable and confident.”